16. Says the escort: “My dear friend and brother, it will be a little hard to show you Jesus at a distance; for whoever does not get to see Jesus at close range shall not see Him at a distance either. You must strive to see Jesus close by, then it shall be according to your desire.”17. Says the count: “My highly esteemed friend, it would be most desirable, if only I could bear His holy proximity. Even the highest angels are said not to bear up to His nearness; how should I?” – Says the guide: “Friend, if Christ the Lord stood before you not a shade more impressive than I, would you then still suffer such holy timidity?” Says the count: “Well, that would make it easier indeed! It would still be a burden, considering Who He is and what I am. He – the most infinite All, and I, the most perfect nothingness! Yet it would make it easier than if He came along in His celestial almight.”18. Says the guide: “Good! What would you say if I Myself were to be Christ, and for certain reasons only revealed Myself to you now? W hat kind of face would you cut to that?”19. Says the count: “Hearken friend, this would be putting a poor devil through a tough test! Verily, my exalted friend, if you ultimately were Him yourself, then I would have to be speechless for an eternity! But tell me for certain right now, so that I may at once perish for esteem!”20. Says the guide: “Yes friend, I am He! Should this be hard to believe, then ask these here. They will tell you! Your love has drawn Me to you in this way!” (From Hell to Heaven chap. 145)

[3] I said: “I told you that man‘s open soul – making it possible for him to make things purely artistic – can also be wrongly directed. If the soul is capable to receive impressions, he can form them as he likes. But a purely animal-like human being will never be able to make an ideal work of art. Also the possibility to receive bad things depends on the openness of the soul. And from the moment that a sinner, who up to then threw himself with his bad love into all sensualities but took the courage by his will to destroy his bad love, can in the same measure come into the true love and be active. If this were not so, there would not be sudden repentances which you yourselves have seen in life while you were with Me, because what matters is always the power of love, whether it is bad or good. Its true nature will be immediately recognized from its works.[4] This is why no one should condemn or scold his brother who is still imprisoned in bad love and who does bad works by its power, but rather feel only compassion for him and try to move him towards repentance through personal, righteous love, because the one who despises him does not know whether I will not send a strong stimulation of will to sustain him by which the one, who was apparently lost, would very quickly change his bad love into good love and will then stand before Me spiritually more justified than even the one who scold him.[5] Would I make such great effort for the lost son if I did not know how big and all compassing his love is, that is now directed wrongly but that can again be directed towards Me? Only for the fact that this turnaround can for every fallen spirit or human being happen in an instant is why the Father does not curse His sons but rather pity them, invites them with love and even searches for them so that they can find the way to the House of the Father.[6] You can easily realize the measure of love and patience that is needed for that when you look at the enormous magnitude of the evils and immorality in the world that reached its peak precisely in this land, so that the divine love, as counterweight and stronger power, devours all that evilness and destroys it in itself. A little power cannot handle a stronger one in itself, at least not spiritually, but only a stronger one can embrace the weaker one and can finally lose it in itself without damage, and this is what happens.

[12] Therefore, I tell you: this world looks like Hell in everything. Only it is concealed from the eyes of men, just like Heaven is concealed in word and deed. So, Heaven can bring salvation toHell already here, but where both are revealed, the influence is difficult or even in the highest degree not possible at all.[13] When the two Pharisees came here, also the complete Hell came here concealed in them, but without suspecting it they came here also into the full Heaven.[14] Yet, Heaven has also 3 degrees, just like Hell has 3 degrees or stages.[15] The 7 men from Upper-Egypt were representing the lowest degree of the pure Heaven of Wisdom, and only in there the hellish spirits from Jerusalem were allowed to come first. Then a light began to dawn within them and they became aware that they were completely in the evil of Hell. When they began to be aware of it more and more, the light of the second degree of Heaven came down to them in the person of Raphael and they felt the need to rid themselves of their evil and to turn to the light. Only when they looked at themselves completely for the first time in the bright light of the truth and love of the second Heaven, true repentance started to penetrate into them and there was a longing for Me, the highest degree of the Heavens. And when I Myself came to them, they were then at once completely converted, and so they are now candidates for the first degree of Heaven.[16] If we however, when they came to us as pure devils, would have immediately driven them away with our power, they now would certainly not be standing in the happy attitude wherein they are standing now. And look, so it is also the case with the merchants from Damascus who are presently in this place, but have no idea of how close they have come to God’s Kingdom. Wewill however, when we are with them, soon find an opportunity to let them notice something of it, and then it will appear what can be done further. (GGJ Book 17, chap. 89)